News

No Mothers Day: Speak Up For Mothers by Staying Silent

May 10th, 2012

Every Mother Counts, an advocacy and mobilization campaign aiming to increase education and support for maternal mortality reduction worldwide, invites the world to take part in their No Mothers Day campaign this Sunday, May 13th. No Mothers Day is a social issue campaign, being implemented to raise awareness about the hundreds of thousands of young girls and women who die each year during from causes relating to pregnancy and childbirth. The idea is to take a moment aside while many people in the world are celebrating their mothers to understand the issues surrounding maternal deaths around the world. As part of the campaign, the website encourages the world to “go silent” in an act of solidarity for the “missing mothers,” women who die from pregnancy or childbirth-related causes around the world, and those who are vulnerable to high-risk pregnancies.

Every year, about 358,000 women die due to complications related to pregnancy and childbirth. Nearly all of these deaths, 99% of them, occur in developing countries. Broken down, this amounts to nearly 1,000 women dying per day and 1 maternal death every 90 seconds. The leading causes of maternal deaths in these countries are preventable; 80% of these deaths are due to severe bleeding, infections, (both mostly after childbirth), high blood pressure, obstructed labor, and unsafe abortion. Other deaths are due to malaria, anemia and HIV/AIDS during pregnancy. Often times, when women do survive delivery, they are afflicted with injuries, disabilities or infections which can interfere with their quality of life.As part of the campaign, a short public service announcement is available online. To learn more about No Mothers Day, check out the Facebook page and YouTube video. A Twitter hashtag, #NoMothersDay is being used to share information and raise information about exactly how preventable these deaths are.

As part of the campaign, a short public service announcement is available online. To learn more about No Mothers Day, check out the Facebook page and YouTube video. A Twitter hashtag, #NoMothersDay is being used to share information and raise information about exactly how preventable these deaths are.